Understanding Bolivia is a traveller’s history that chronicles Bolivia’s tangled and tumultuous history in order to expound the backbone of local cultures from the Tihuanacans and Inca to present day Aymara and Quechua. The book describes how Bolivia became the second poorest country in the Americas and how it disposed of almost 200 presidents in the same number of years. Lougheed presents insight into an indigenous, rural economy struggling with the global economy and eventually conquering American corporate control of water and gas supplies.

The book is also a history of some of the colourful characters who were attracted to the mystery and the beauty of Bolivia. The country’s isolation has long attracted both adventure seekers and those on the run. Understanding Bolivia takes over where other guidebooks end. Lougheed’s unmistakable sense of wonder, appreciation and respect for Bolivia inspire a deeply intimate and rewarding connection between the reader and this often overlooked country.

Born in Winnipeg in 1943, Vivien Lougheed was raised by her Polish grandparents who instilled within her a desire for adventure. From her home base of Prince George she has travelled extensively throughout British Columbia, China, Pakistan, the Mediterranean, Central and South America, Africa, the Himalayas of Tibet and Nepal. In her first book, Central America by Chickenbus (1986), she all but coined the term that is now synonymous with local transportation and travelling on the cheap. Since then she has written more than ten books including Kluane National Park Hiking Guide, Forbidden Mountains (Caitlin Press), Tungsten John, (co-written with her husband) and From the Chilcotin to the Chilkoot: Selected Hikes of Northern BC (Caitlin Press).